I am starting to see a pattern where my 5 month old son just lights up when he sees his daddy. His dad is able to pick him up from daycare and spend two hours alone with him before I get home from work (usually with take out at that hour). I'm trying to figure out what I can do to spend more quality time with my son during the work week.

I actually am the one that spends more time with our daughter, but we had a similar experience. One thing that worked for our family was that my husband started getting up a little earlier so that I could work on the computer in the morning. What has happened is that they get in a really nice hour of quality time before he goes to work. Sometimes they play, sometimes she's still groggy and sleeps most of the time on his shoulder. I know it's been really great for him and for her. I hope that helps. Keep us posted on how things are going

I had a similar experience, but my husband and I worked about the same amount of time. My daughter was just a daddy's girl and still is. We carpool and pick up my daughter together - she will run by me to get to dad. Some of it can be because of the time, but they just go through phases. It was really frustrating, but my daughter is finally becoming more of a mommy's girl. Trust me you will have your turn - it might take awhile though.

I really believe quality time is important, so make the evening time special. I let my husband cook and wouldn't do any cleaning until my daughter is in bed. We take family walks in the evening. I try to read her a book before bed.

Good luck, I really do know how frustrating it can be.

i am in the same boat and our son is 2 years old. Daddy takes him to/from daycare and has an hour or two before i get home. We generally spend weekends together so that helps from a 'quality time' persepctive. We also alternate nights to put him to bed, reading stories, etc.

dont worry - your kids still know who is mom and who is dad and love you both equally yet differently! They also figure out pretty quickly who will give in easier ;) (daddy, in our case!!)

i love that our son is happy to be with either/both of us at any given time. he does have a tendancy to be clingy to me so i guess i feel like the extra attention he gets from dad actually balances that out a bit. Since we alternate bed time routines this also allows us each time during the week a couple of times a month to spend time with friends in the evenings if we want. Not that hubby often takes advantage, but at least he CAN if he wanted to! (he would rather web surf! ha!) but it's how we carve out some individual time to do with whatever we want and keeps us sane!

time alone together is a whole other issue LOL

Thank you everyone for your support and suggestions. I am now feeling better about the time we do spend together, mostly early morning and bed time. I'm less paranoid about Jack not recognizing me and that has probably helped the situation as well!